Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-11-29
OXFORD COUNTY HORSE NOTES.
WHAT rmE DaErpEss' MONTHLY SANS
ABOUT "uircnns."-us CAUSE AMI
fIs nInrDY.
"HIIcitIN0."

bitch In the Rsit n UNDERWOOD, vhe'nsf
Il rf,n 10 man or horse. but hi'ehinR In
,ke sense which horse folks give the words
implies serious trouble In the education
Of uo,iss. Not lotg ego We received .
communication from subscriber ds'ifing
. remedy. and 10 order to treat the q,es.
ton properly have deferred IL until low.
Notwithstanding the word In common
rse has . technical significance. Webster
defines the verb hitch In . wsy that
show, he he'd an in,uiive and perhaps .
better knowlsdse Of What vi. the cause
of hi,ehing than some trainers. His first
definition. IL ITO move BY jerks or With
stops. (2) To become sni.ngIsd to Be
esush, OF hooked. (3) To hi' the bs'
together In going. - horss (not Amsr'-
ean u,ass.) (i) To hop; to spring on
one lss." We rssie. somewhat that
striking the l,ss iOse,hsrhe bad TO ro's "
no, Amsriesn usage, Tor although that 10
incorrect, inumueh - !, shoald be to
strike the lsg. with the feet, We are con-
vinesd that 10 nearly ell cases hitehinf
comes from the fore feet ipjuring the
had limbs. especially the eoronst and
p.stsrn. Before the science of"boo,ins
vas 90 veil understood !, vas held that
pulling heavy Weigh, v. the chief eau's
Of horses forsking the square tro'tins
action and r,.or,ing 20 . ,rky motion.
II we q plausible explanation that In
the effort to pull . load at fast rate
there should be soms,hing like 'ps'modie
action Of the hind legs. and many yea"
ego Il ". generally accredited |" being
the cause In. st least. . majority OF 10.
stances. In those days heavy vshiel''
we're the rule, and hence !, Was not On
rreommon occurrence for ,rotiers TO be
hardened. But a. the trouble 10 s'il.
met. and ,h., In horses which have been
favored With light vehielss during the
-kole ,sriod Of training. there must be
other reasons. When the uotiins action
|. ele.,ly studied. Il viii BE- learned that
the gal, IL some~hs, complex. The fast
,ro, d,ps nd. on the body being thrown
through the air when the feet are ell Oh
the ground. When the ,ro, Is sb'ola'el,
square the diagonal feet strike the ground
90 nearly together tha, the esr isils to
d-,,et any dia,rree. Ia the cir night
The hind Lex is passing the front
when the night fore lex u ben, the hight
hind /. brought forward. sometimes out
.,d, Of the fore, somstimes under the fore
foo, aud occasionally between the fore
feet. In either case there is liability
Of them coming together. When the
hind foo, IL e.nisd outside the action has
teen appropriately termed oPen.gs',sd'
and /. lev korss. 10 90 vide behind that
there 1. little danger Of injury. In the
old days OF uo,iing this sofi Of action
-s valued. but - . greater degree OF
.psed was required !, ". found to be
inferior TO that which vas eloser and
more rapid. When the feet follow IN |.
.,r.ish, lice IL is manifest that they mu"
come together unless the fore foot u 81 .
greater elevation than the hind. Thus.
-h.n . horse "iorges," strikes the toe OF
the hind shoe against the web OF the 'front.'
the fore foot is jas. turned far enough to
permit the blow TO be given. and II may
b. ,hs, the toe s,i.l rests On the ground
When the point Of eon,set y the toe OF
edge Of the front shoe and the hooi. cor
one, or pss,ern of the hind. !, is ai =
higher elevation. and when the ankle or
,kin /. struck ,,ill higher has the fore
foo, been raised. Now when . hitherto
.qasrs-gsilsd colt commences TO hiien' II
|. long odds ,hs, the marks Of eon''e,
~ill be visible Frequently the hind hoof
will be marked from near the ground
surface TO the eorone,. and II may be that
there are sbpsions Of the 'kin ~ well.
There may be such markings without the
accompany ing mixing Of gait. and that
would show that the animal isinsensiols to
the pain, OF that IL had not yet discover.
ca . method Of avoiding the blow. IL
Is suliicisnt for our present purpose. how
ever, TO assume that the cause OF hitch
ing 10 what we claim. and then look foi
q remedy. There will be few to question
the wisdom Of endesvoring TO change the
action in order that the cause be remov-
ed, but that is more easily suggested than
carried in'o execution. There Are 20
many appliances for that purpose now.a.
days, that il seems - though some OF
them nigh, Prove effective, and that ell
that is necessary will be to Try one after
another until . specific s discovered.
This We understand 10 the practice with
homeopathic practitioners, and ys, patti
snts are los, by them n well a. those
Who adhere TO different formulas. There
are % many things which have been
found sfiieseious that 10 notice them ell
will require several sr,iels'. and the sub
ject is Of % much importance TO those
Who breed and those who handle tro,,ers
that IL will be time well spent. The
numttf Of remedies prove how trouble
some |, 10 to overcome the propensity. and
We may ~ well state ~ the outset that
there u one cardinal point that mus, not
b omitted to fsd any Of them sacesssfal.
That 10 patience. just 90 sure - the ed.
ucator Loses his temper there viii b.
disappointment. Bear 10 mind that TIE
faulty action is caused BY pain. and sn
increase OF suffering ~ill sdi TO the
trouble. and when the animal dads ihs,
in addition to The ,slf inflicted bIo~ ,h,r-
ere ~hippinss add snstehss at the bi'.
there vii be no.inprovements.
Commence With the feet. IL shoes
sIs worn. zee that ihose IN front sre s't
within the horn. and thst the edges Of
the ms.sl ere rounded. The OF ] CT ofthi'
IL TO make the parts which do the irjary
~ innoeuous - possible. and though ~s
may not BE- able TO overcome the contact,
the force ~iil not be 20 great. sni BY re-
placing The cutting edge with rounded
surfaee there 10 less danger u woupdias
the ,oftsr parts from the eoronst up. and
the Torn will not rsesive 90 sharp stroke
Pfotsc, the bind Zee, and legs With boots.
Scslping boots. speedy.euts snd shin
boots should be worn. and these Of the
lated, patterns which ere ususlly the
beet. We say usually the best In q
qualified sense. II the bootmsker u IN